Trump Buys $41 Million Florida Residence

Donald Trump trumped other bidders for a Palm Beach, Fla., property in bankruptcy on Monday, when he picked up a six-acre parcel and French Regency-style mansion for a bargain $41.35 million, reports the Palm Beach Daily News.

“It’s the finest piece of land in Florida and probably in the U.S.,” Trump, no stranger to hyperbole, tells the paper. “It’s potentially so great. The existing house is a terrific structure, and I’ll bring it to a level that few people have ever seen. Then, I’ll resell the house.”

Trump plans to keep the property basically as it is, says the paper, which quotes the 58-year-old New York developer and star of The Apprentice as saying, “My initial feeling is to utilize the existing house and create the second greatest house in America, Mar-a-Lago being the first.”

Mar-a-Lago is Trump’s current Palm Beach estate.

Built in 1990, the new residence used to belong to health-care magnate Abe Gosman, who experienced financial reversals three years ago. Only about half of the 64,000-sq.-ft. main house is air-conditioned, says the Daily News, while a tennis pavilion, a pool house and a staff apartment make up the remainder of the property.

The basement remains unfinished, though there are traces of a large party room, while the circular living room contains murals replicating master paintings. The dining room seats 14 people.